Identity & Inclusion in the Non-monogamy Movement: A virtual panel discussion

Join OPEN (Organization for Polyamory and Ethical Non-monogamy) for an important virtual panel discussion on Identity & Inclusion in the Non-Monogamous Movement, part of the Week of Visibility for Non-Monogamy. This panel will explore the diverse identities that intersect with non-monogamous practices and the importance of fostering inclusivity within our communities.

Non-monogamous individuals often navigate multiple intersecting identities, including race, gender, sexuality, and more. These intersecting identities significantly shape their experiences and practices of non-monogamy. Our distinguished panelists, representing a range of backgrounds and perspectives, will discuss the unique challenges faced by individuals at these intersections and strategies for creating more inclusive and supportive non-monogamous communities.

Panelists include:

• Kevin Patterson is an active member of the Philadelphia polyamory community. He's been practicing ethical nonmonogamy since August of 2002 after opening up a relationship that eventually became his marriage. In April of 2015, Kevin was inspired to start Poly Role Models, an interview series for people describing their experiences with polyamory. Poly Role Models was part of a drive and a desire to change the way our lives and communities are viewed. To continue that discussion of polyamorous representation, Kevin has extended the blog's work into the writing of the book, Love's Not Color Blind: Race and Representation in Polyamorous and Other Alternative Communities. Along with co-writer Alana Phelan, Kevin launched a sci-fi novel series, For Hire, that centers characters of color as well as other marginalized identities.
• William Winters is a seasoned digital campaign strategist for progressive organizations and causes. William is also a leader in the Bay Area’s polyamorous and sex-positive communities. He is the founder of Bonobo Network, a sex-positive, consent-focused, power-aware community that facilitates well-informed, emotionally sophisticated, inclusive, and curated conversation and praxis about sex and intimacy. He's also a founder of Express Yourself, a quarterly gathering uniting people of color in celebrations of the erotic, and President of OPEN, the Organization for Polyamory and Ethical Non-monogamy
• Alyssa Gonzalez is a public speaker, science writer, biology Ph.D., and author of Nonmonogamy and Neurodiversity. When she isn't writing about advances in agrigenomics, she's putting her recipes, urbanist rants, and essays about her experiences as an autistic ex-Catholic Hispanic transgender immigrant to Canada on her blog, The Perfumed Void (the-orbit.net/alyssa). She also writes speculative fiction that explores social isolation, autism, gender, trauma, and the relationships between all of these things. She lives in Ottawa, Canada with a menagerie of pets.
• Michelle D. Vaughan, Ph.D. (she/her) is pansexual, polyamorous woman, a licensed clinical psychologist and a Clinical Full Professor in the School of Professional Psychology at Wright State University as well as a Fellow of Division 44 of the American Psychological Association. She trains health providers in sex, gender, and relationship-affirming practices as part of culturally humble training and conducts strengths-based scholarship on LGBTQ+ and Consensual Non-Monogamy (CNM). Her most notable works include the first published peer-reviewed study of physical healthcare experiences of CNM individuals, and the first published measures of compersion (the COMPERSe) and stress-related growth from the coming out process for sexual minorities,. She is the co-editor and co-author of The Handbook of CNM Affirming Mental Health Practice from Rowman & Littlefield in addition to service on regional and national CNM organizations and training medical and mental health professionals on LGBTQ+ strengths and CNM-affirming practice.

Free tickets with an optional donation; 100% of contributions will go to support the global Week of Visibility for Non-monogamy.